BTN Adds Delayed TV Coverage of IU/North Carolina Central Game

By BTN.com staff, 5 years ago

BTN Adds Delayed TV Coverage of IU/North Carolina Central Game

By BTN.com staff, 5 years ago

CHICAGO – BTN and Indiana University announced Sunday additional television coverage plans for the North Carolina Central-Indiana men’s basketball game Wednesday night. The game will still tip off at 7 p.m ET and will stream live as part of the Big Ten Digital Network’s subscription package, as originally announced, but BTN also will televise the game on delay that night at 10:30 p.m. ET.

As a result, BTN’s Super Wednesday doubleheader will now be a tripleheader, starting with Nebraska at Purdue at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by Michigan State at Minnesota at 8:30 p.m. ET and finishing with North Carolina Central at Indiana at approximately 10:30 p.m. ET.

The Big Ten Conference, BTN and Indiana considered the possibility of moving the start time of the North Carolina Central game to 4:30 p.m. ET or 10:30 p.m. ET to accommodate a live television audience, but IU determined that staffing issues at Assembly Hall and travel concerns for attending fans could not be overcome. IU moved the game from December to February so it would not have its second bye of the Big Ten season in a three-game span.

“We are happy to be able to improve upon our previous coverage plans for this game,” BTN President Mark Silverman said. “Indiana fans who want to watch the North Carolina Central game live will have the ability to do so online, and those who would rather watch it on television will have that option as well.”

“We are pleased that the Big Ten Network was able to add television coverage for our North Carolina Central game,” Indiana University athletic director Fred Glass said. “Given the logistical difficulties a mid-week afternoon game would present, this was the best possible solution for IU fans planning to either attend the game in-person or watch it from home.”

In the fall, cable and satellite providers offer part-time Extra Football Game Channels to BTN strictly for the purpose of airing football games on Saturdays. These channels are not available to BTN at other times of the year because of provider capacity limitations.

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. Events include football, men’s and women’s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches’ shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women’s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 80 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For updated information, go to www.BTN.com.